Reborn in 08, a heretical cultivator starting a business

Chapter 84 Tencent's Choice, Paipai.com's Ambition!

"They really know how to stir up trouble. When did our e-commerce division become so head-on as to go head-to-head with the QQ division? Have they gone mad?"

Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent.

Yes, right now, Tencent's QQ division is the dominant force, undoubtedly the number one division, and the core of traffic for all other divisions!
Even the lucrative game division can only rank second.

The mobile and telecommunications value-added services business unit, including QQ membership and QQ SMS reminders, ranked third.

The Internet Advertising Division ranks fourth.

The fifth business division is Tencent's e-commerce division, which includes Paipai.com and Tenpay, accounting for less than 2% of revenue.

Further down the line are more peripheral business units such as QQ Mail and QQ Zone.

That's right, the WeChat of the past was created by the QQ Mail team, which was located on the periphery of Guangzhou.

Where there are people, there are rivers and lakes.

Goose Farm is a large and powerful enterprise, and its internal structure is far from monolithic.

On the contrary, behind each business unit is a large and complex interest group.

Originally, the various interest groups were clearly distinct, and different business units performed their respective duties. They all relied on the traffic of the big brother QQ business unit to generate revenue, which was enough to maintain a delicate balance.

Even Paipai.com, the e-commerce division, survived and had the potential to grow by relying on QQ users and traffic.

But if Paipai.com acquires WeChat, it would mean that the e-commerce division would be doing both e-commerce and social networking!
It's like using the Crown Prince QQ's resources to develop, and then taking in the Emperor's illegitimate son (WeChat) to compete with the Crown Prince QQ for the throne!
This will inevitably take away QQ's resources and touch upon the fundamental interests of the QQ business unit!

As the primary business unit, would the QQ division agree to that?
The major shareholders, group partners, and senior executives behind the scenes will be furious about this and may even take all their efforts to stop it.

Even if the e-commerce division frankly admits that it has no plans to expand WeChat and that it will not affect QQ's interests, no one believes it!
The bigwigs in the QQ business unit would certainly not agree to that!

Who would believe that the e-commerce division is willing to remain a minor player instead of pursuing a combined e-commerce and social media strategy to become the top player?

Therefore, the QQ division will definitely oppose this and will try its best to destroy the WeChat and e-commerce divisions.

But the e-commerce division is not one to be trifled with, and it will definitely retaliate.

If neither side is willing to back down, this situation could easily lead to a split within Tencent, with the QQ business unit and the e-commerce business unit becoming completely opposed!
The consequences could be disastrous.

This is something even Chairman Ma cannot accept.

In fact, in his previous life, Zhang Long was unwilling to be just the head of the peripheral business unit QQ Mail, so he created WeChat and encountered a series of suppressions.

Many high-level officials believe that WeChat's existence will take away QQ's resources, and have bluntly stated that WeChat should be shut down!
It wasn't until WeChat developed rapidly and received strong support from Jack Ma that it survived and began to grow.

If WeChat hadn't caught the wave of mobile internet and the explosion of smartphones, and hadn't competed with QQ for the throne, it probably would have been shut down long ago!

"So, we can't directly acquire WeChat, otherwise it could easily lead to serious consequences, or even a split within the group!"

Xu Tiannian, the head of the e-commerce business unit, frowned and dared not act too impulsively.

"That's right! And although YouTuan International has high revenue, with a daily turnover of tens of millions, nearly 80% of its revenue comes from selling grey market iPhone 3Gs. This is a gray industry, and it won't be a hot seller indefinitely; it's not sustainable."

"This year, China Mobile and Apple's talks broke down, and no official iPhone 3G was introduced. However, China Unicom is very likely to reach an agreement next year and introduce official iPhones, which will make grey market iPhones even more meaningless."

“Besides the grey market iPhones, U-Tuan International’s other 3C products, beauty products, and baby products only generate one or two million in revenue per day, which is relatively small. I suggest abandoning the acquisition and investing instead.”

"Investment would be best. We can first contact YouTuan Technology and express our investment intention."

"If the other party agrees, that would be best. We will become the major shareholder of YouTuan Technology. This is not a direct acquisition of WeChat, and it will not cause a conflict with the QQ business unit."

"What if they don't agree? What if they demand an exorbitant price?" "Demand an exorbitant price? Then we can just create our own WeChat platform, a YouTuan International platform, and that's it!"

"No, our e-commerce department cannot directly get involved in social media."

"Yes, QQ's status as the crown prince is untouchable. Let's not cause trouble; investing is the best option."

"If they're asking for an exorbitant price, then let's see how YouTuan.com develops. If it has great growth potential and continues to grow rapidly, then it's worth the price, and we can increase our investment!"

"But if YouTuan.com is just a flash in the pan, relying solely on selling grey market iPhones, and doesn't last more than a few months before it goes under, then forget it. These days, there's no shortage of products with flashes of brilliance, but what's lacking is a long-term strategic platform!"

"Okay, let's do it."

Soon, Tencent's e-commerce department made a decision.

Invest in WeChat!

This way, they can avoid directly getting involved in social networking and getting crushed by QQ's business unit, while still focusing on vertical e-commerce.

Of course, Xu Tiannian also had other plans, such as investing in WeChat through the investment model of YouTuan Technology, thus indirectly getting involved in social networking!
In this way, the QQ division couldn't say anything, and the e-commerce division could also use this opportunity to expand its social networking presence.

If WeChat truly takes off in the future, the status of the e-commerce division will naturally rise accordingly, and it's even possible that it will become a third or even a second-tier division!

To become the general manager of Paipai.com and the head of the e-commerce division, Xu Tiannian's ambition is considerable.

Zhang Long, from the QQ Mail division of Xiaoqi and Xiaoba, was thinking of creating a WeChat account and becoming the boss.

Xu Tiannian, the general manager of Xiaowu Paipai.com, is certainly not without ambition.

Investing in U-Tuan Technology and WeChat were just some of the strategic moves he made.

It doesn't matter if we fail, but if we succeed, we'll have made a huge profit!
Tencent acted quickly.

After several meetings, the valuation of YouTuan Technology was quickly finalized, and then action was taken.

Wang Junshan was unaware of these things.

The development of WeChat is unstoppable.

This wave of exposure from provincial and municipal television stations, newspapers, and other media outlets generated massive traffic, causing the number of WeChat users to surge rapidly.

Today it has even surpassed 220 million!
It can be described as a triumphant advance.

Despite the slowing growth rate, it is still quite impressive.

Two million new users in three days—that's terrifyingly powerful, given the constant coverage from TV stations and newspapers these days.

Meanwhile, U-Tuan International's revenue has also been steadily increasing.

For three consecutive days, the daily revenue was around 2000 million.

Profits were all over 800 million.

With such excellent results, everyone in the YouTuan International Business Department was excited, even a little complacent, and became somewhat lazy at work!

Wang Junshan was somewhat displeased with this and directly pointed it out at a high-level meeting:

"I've noticed that some of our senior executives have become a bit complacent lately. They think that our YouTuan International, with a daily turnover of 2000 million RMB in just half a month since its launch, is incredibly powerful and terrifying. They believe it can rival or even surpass many comprehensive e-commerce platforms!"

"But have you ever considered how much of that 20 million yuan in revenue came from grey market iPhone 3Gs?"

(End of this chapter)